Earlier this evening (August 29, 2011), someone responded to my blog by posting this comment on one of my Facebook groups:
“interesting.. since I don’t belong to your cult, I am going to hell? dude thats f--ed up!! will you drink the punch if asked too?”
This is my response: yes, you're going to Hell and yes, I will drink the punch.
In middle school (mid-1980s) we have the Rajneeshee cult here in Oregon. It is a big deal on the news. Many of their members wear red and we all joke that our vice-principal is a member because she has a red suit she wears once a week.
In high school I write a paper about the Jonestown cult. I know what a cult is. I have even heard it whispered that the Followers are a cult. But it doesn’t matter what we’re called. This is the only truth I know.
There are two ways to get into heaven and I would take either one without blinking an eye. The first is to be baptized by a prophet. Since the last living prophet died four years before I was born, I am stuck with door number two: martyrdom.
People want to know why the Followers allow their children to die. Why not take them to a doctor? Let me tell you why: we are told that the only option we have to absolutely ensure salvation is martyrdom.
If a woman dies in childbirth, it has been proven (I cannot give the details of this proof here because I want you to read my memoir) that she is assured salvation. If a child dies and his family has the faith and trust to allow God’s will to be done, then that child is also on his way to the streets paved in gold.
I don’t know if you can understand this, but fear is a powerful thing. I do not want to go to Hell. If there is a temporary suffering – even if that means two days of hard child-birthing followed by a slow and painful death with my baby still unborn – I choose to take that route over an eternity of Hell Fire and Damnation where there will be weeping an gnashing of teeth. If watching my two year old child die because she needs an insulin shot will mean she gets a free ticket in, well, thank God I am not faced with that choice. We all know that God sent His son to die a horrible death. God even asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Why should our children be spared?
I think about Hell all the time. I obsess about it. I imagine the day I am thrown in. I picture the weeping and gnashing of teeth. I’m not sure what gnashing is, but I think it involves a demon bashing my teeth in with a sledgehammer; new teeth replace the old and the process repeats for all of eternity. I suppose this teeth bashing happens inside a pool of boiling lava. My skin melts off and regenerates in endless torture.
So, yes, if drinking the punch keeps me out of Hell, then bottoms up, baby!
Are you still worried that you will go to hell because you left? I would hope not. Just because the bible is taught one way does not make it so. God warns of false prophits all the time in the bible. So maybe the followers are the ones all damned to hell? I would hope not but it is a thought.
ReplyDeleteWalter was NOT a crazy control freak. Things were better when he was alive. They twisted his words and changed the rules only AFTER he died. I am going to blog later about why Followers go to the dentist and optomotrist.
ReplyDeleteTHESE ARE AMAZING!!! YOU NEED TO WRITE A BOOK. but i have some questions, are you and randy still together? whats the book of life? have you had any contact with your family since you left? have you gone back? do you regret leaving? i have grown up around the followers(went to beavercreek, ogden, and oc)and i have always wanted to know what the "kissers" were about. i have asked a few people here and there and a lot have been really defensive(rightfully so) and the few that i have known that have left the church dont wanna talk about it. Also i heard a rumor once that if you committed a sin you had to confess in front of everybody is that true?
ReplyDeletefatamos33: thanks for the great questions. You gave me some ideas for writing. The "Lambs Book of Life" is where God records who is getting in to heaven. My older sister left when I was in middle school so we reconnected as soon as I left and we are best friends. My oldest brother left in 1999 and then my parents and my other two brothers left the next year. I do NOT regret leaving, but at one point I did regret and it and returned for a few months. I will write about public confessions in a later post (thanks for the memory jog!). Do you think it's "rightfully so" that when people are defensive about their beliefs? I think it's because they don't know how to defend beliefs that are put into their minds (rather than freely accepted beliefs)....
ReplyDeleteSuzanne - Let me know when the book comes out. Really enjoy your story, especially as I am one of the "outsiders", an OC kid from the start and even today (50 years later). Very interesting reading about a "Follower" from one who was within. Keep up the good work (and thank God you went on to go to college and follow your dream).
ReplyDeleteI say "rightfully so", because a lot of people trash talk others beliefs, so people become guarded and dont want to share in fear of being ridiculed. I also agree with people not knowing how to defend their beliefs, without being standoffish. Ok so randy you guys still together??? (if thats to personal i apologies and wont ask again. Im glad i could help with the memory jogging, And thanks for answering my other questions.
ReplyDeleteUnknown: we didn't make it. Haven't seen him in more than ten years.
ReplyDeleteim sorry to hear that, its fatamos by the way i dont know why it said unknown
ReplyDeleteBut what about Jesus? What about His sacrifice on the cross for us... for all of us?? John 14:6 Jesus says that He is the only way to heaven...to the Father - His Father - God. Read all of the gospel of John to learn about who Jesus is. He is our way to heaven.
ReplyDelete